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05-10-82 PC Minutes Minutes of the Golden Valley a 1 Planning Commission May 10, 1982 A regular meeting of the Planning Commission was held in the Council Chambers of the Civic Center, 7800 Golden Valley Road, Golden Valley, MN. Chairman Thompson called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m. Those present were Commissioners Forster, Leppik, Polachek, Prazak, Singer, Thompson and Tubman. Also present were Mike Miller, Planning and Redevelopment Coordinator, and Alda Peikert, Assistant Planner. I . Approval of Minutes - April 26, 1982: It was �moved by Commissioner Singer, seconded by Commissioner Polachek and carried unanimously to approve the minutes of the April 26, 1982 Planning Commission meeting as recorded. II . Set Date for Informal Public Hearing - Conditional Use Permit: APPLICANT: Green Stuff, lnc. LOCATION: 735 Colorado Avenue South REQUEST: Approval to operate a Lawn Treatment Company including storage � handling of liquid and solid materials that could be considered hazardous and/or toxic Chairman Thompson introduced this agenda item and noted the staff suggestion of a May 24, T982 informal public hearing date. It was moved by Commissioner Singer, seconded by Commissioner Leppik and carried unanimously to set the date of May 24, 1982 for an informal public hearing to consider a conditional use permit requested by Green Stuff, Inc. to establish and operate a lawn fireatment company incYuding storage and handling of liquid and solid materials that could be considered hazardous and/or toxic at 735 Colorado Avenue South in an Industrial Zoning District. III . Informal Public Hearing - Amendment to PUD #28, Pondwood Office Park APPLICANT: Pondwood Associates LOCATION: 495g, 4969 & 4g79 O1son Memorial Highway REQUEST: Approval of Modification of PUD #28 Pondwood Office Park Chairman Thompson introduced this agenda item and asked whether Gommissioners had questions of staff. In respanse to a request from Commissioner Prazak, Assistant Planner Alda Peikert, pointed out the locations of the fire lane in relation to the wall hydrant on the previously approved site plan and on the amended site plan. R� Planning Commission Minutes of May 10, 1982 Page 2 Chairman Thompson recognized the proponents represented by Mr. Gerald Mundt, Architect with Wallace and Mundt, Architects , and Mr. Dean Van Horn, P�anaging Partner for Pondwood Associates. Mr. Mundt explained that the fire lane in front of Building 2 had been moved to the north with the addition of parking space in order to make the parking space more convenient to the entrance of the buildinc�. Mr. Mundt expressed willingness to mave the fire lane back to a location in front of the wall hydrant as suggested by staff. Chairman Thompso n Qpened the informal public hearing to input from the pu6lic. There was no one present who wished to speak on this agenda item, and Chairman Thompson closed the informal public hearing. It was moved by Commissioner Leppik, seconded by Commissioner Prazak and carried unanimously to recommend City Council approval of the requested Amendment to PUD #28 Pondwood Office Park, which proposes removal of a seven car garage structure an�l addition of 12 outside parking spaces, conditional upon maintaining the fire lane in the originally approved location near the wall hydrant and location of the three additional parking spaces in front of Building 2 to the north of the fire lane. IV. Informal Public Hearing - West Metro Surgical Center, Inc. : APPLICANT: _ West Metro Surgical Center, Inc. LOCATION: 6681 Country Club Drive REQUEST: Favorable consideration of request to establish and operate a "same day" surgical center Chairman Thompson introduced this agenda item and asked whether Commissioners had questions of staff. Commissioner Leppik asked why staff suggested as a condition of approval that no further expansion of the facility be permitted even if the surgical center receives State authorization for an additional operating room in the future. Planning and Redevelopment Coordinator Mike MiTler replied that the primary consid- eration is the site itself and the need to set a limitation on development of the site. Commissioner Prazak asked what current bui }ding uses were referred to in the suggested third condition of approval stipulating removal of uses not in conform- ance with the City Zoning Ordinance within 12 months. Mr. MilJer replied that at one time it had been the understanding of staff that the buitding was partially occupied by office uses not in conformance with the Institutional zoning. Mr. Miller stated that as of the afternoon of the meeting he had been informed that all uses in the building were medical , but thatitwould still be a good idea to include a condition requiring removal of any nonconforming uses. Chairman Thompson recognized Mr. Gary Gandrud, /�ttorney with Stolpestad, Brown and Smith representing the proponent. Mr. Gandrud introduced Mr. Bill Reiser, holder of the option on the property, Dr. Stephen Brzica affiliated with the St. Paul Surgical Center who would be one of the principals in the �test Metro Surgical Center, and Mr. Jim Benshoof, Traffic Engineer with Strgar-Roscoe, Inc. , who prepared the traffic analysis for the proposed surgical center. 83 Planning Commissian Minutes of May 10, 1982 Page 3 Mr. Reiser reviewed the hisCory of his involVement with the subject property at 6881 Country Club Drive. Mr. Reiser originally took an option on the property with the intention of becoming an owner/user of the building. However, Mr. Reiser learned that his business as representative of an electronics firm would be more suited to Light Industrial Zoning than to the Business and Professional Offices zoning previously proposed for the subject property. Mr. Reiser is now acting as business manager for various interests in the subject property inc}uding both the proponents of the surgical center and the existing building tenants , some of whom are part owners of the buitcling. In response to a question from Chairman Thompson, Mr. Reiser verified that current building tenants occupy 10,000 square fee� of building space and that all have a medical connection. ,Dr. Brzica described for the Planning Commission the St. Paul Surgical Center operation which the West Metro Surgical Center would resemble. The St. Paul Surgical Center has four operating rooms compared to three authorized by the State and proposed for the West Metro Surgical Center. At the St. Paul Surgical Center, 1.0 to 3Q operations are performed each day between the hours of 7:30 a.m. and 1 :00 p.m. Recovery time is two and a half to three hours, so .patients are released by 3: 30 or 4:00 p.m. The Center has approximately 15 employees including 7 to 8 nurses, 4 surgical technicians, 3 or 4 bookkeepers, and 3 anesthesiologists. There are 4 to 5 visiting surgeons performing surgery each day. Space occupied by the surgical center is 10,500 to 11 ,000 square feet. Commissioner Forster asked whether there was a shortage of this type of service available in the area, and Dr. Brzica replied that the facility was originally requested by surgeons in the area. Commissioner Leppik asked whether the proponents would change their building plans or would view the site differently if restricted to three operating rooms. Com- missioner Leppik noted that the total buiTding space proposed appeared to provide more square footage than required for immediate needs. Dr. Brzica stated that the proponents couid accomplish their purpose with three operating rooms and that they would not change their building plans if restricted to three operating rooms . Dr. Brzica explained that considerable space is required for storage of inedical supplies, linens and files generated by the large number of one time patients . Commissioner Singer questioned Dr. Brzica concerning the number of truck deliveries to the proposed surgical center, and Dr. Brzica replied that there wtsul:d be two deliveries per week. : Chairman Thompson asked who would,manage the building considering there would be medical office tenants in addition to the surgical center. Dr. Brzica replied that building management would be a combined effort including the surgical center, the owners and Mr. Reiser. Mr. Jim Benshoo� reviewed the traffic analysis for the Planning Commission and addressed concerns raised in the staff report. Mr. Benshoof stated that the traffic analysis addressed p.m. peak hour traffic and not a.m. peak hour traffic because total trips in and out of the facility would be higher during the p.m. �� Planning Commission Minutes of May 10, 1982 Page 4 peak hour than during the a.m. peak hour. Total projected trips would be 172 in the p.m. peak hour and 148 in the a.m. peak hour. Mr. Benshoof verified for Chairman Thompson that the figures provided are based on full occupancy of the building as proposed. Chairman Thompson asked the basis for the assumption that 75 percent of the traffic generated by the surgical center would use the Douglas Drive/Highway 55 inter- section. Mr. Benshoof repl_ied that the assumption was based on consideration of the surgical center market area. Chairman Thompson asked how t,he proponents and traffic engineer determined the market area. Dr. Brzica replied that the Certificate of Need process included analysis of the locations of doctors requesting the service and analysis of the locations of their patients. This analysis indicated that patients would come primarily from the east, north and south. Mr. Miller asked why, consi.dering the bulk of the patient load coming from the north and south, the traffic engineer had not considered use of County Road 18 and had assumed all users would use Highway 100. Mr. MiTler speculated that there would be more use than anticipated of Country Club Drive to the west to avoid the congestion at the Douglas Drive/Highway 55 intersection. Commissioner Prazak suggested that due to the one time trip nature of surgical center use, peop1e will use the most obvious major roads to reach the site and will not have the opportunity to learn to avoid congested routes. Dr. Brzica stated that the surgical center will disseminate literature for users which will include a map and that traffic could be directed to preferred routes. Mr. Miller suggested that the Rhode lsland/Country Club Drive route would provide better access and stated that he did not feel the volume of traffic on Country Club Drive would be significant. Mr. Gandrud addressed the question of expansion and suggested a limitation on expansion of the building rather than a limitation on the number of operating rooms within the surgical center. Mr. Gandrud stated that the propased initial 10,000 square foot expansion in medical office space was required to provide the initial capital necessary for th� project. However, after a period of three to five years, the proponents would be in a position to expand the surgical center use within the building if allowable and replace some of the medical office space. Mr. Gandrud stated that expansion of the surgical center use in place of inedical offices use would not intensify use of the building and would result in less traffic. Mr. Miller stated that he saw no problem with expansion of the surgical center use to a fourth operating room if the expansion absorbed additional space within the building as currently proposed and did not requiire any further addition to the building. Mr. Miller noted that future expansion of the surgical center use, whether within the existing building or involving addition to the building, would require application before the City Planning Commission and City Council under the conditional use procedure. �5 Planning Commission Minutes of May 10, 1982 Page 5 Chairman Thompson opened the informal public hearing for pub] ic input. Mr. Dennis Jackson, 6745 Country Club Drive, said that he had been contacted by Mr. Gandrud earlier in the week concerning the proposed surgical center and appreciated that contact. Mr, Jackson stated that he shares staff concerns regarding overuse of the property in the future and regarding traffic. Mr. Anthony Benkusky, 64g5 Westchester Circle, expressed sympathy with Rhode Island Avenue North and Country Club Drive resident concerns over traffic. Mr. Benkusky asked what type of surgery would be performed at the surgical center, Dr. Brzica reported that 40 percent of all surgery can be performed in a "same day'' surgical center and stated that the predominant user is ear, nose and throat surgery, followed by orthopedic surgery, obstetrics/gynecology surgery, and plastic surgery in that order. Mr. Benkusky stated that at the present time when hospitals have vacent beds, he feels there should be an overall look at the proposed surgical center. Chairman Thompson exp}ained that the question of need had been examined by another agency and that the question before the Planning Commission was land use. Mr. Marc Nelson, 1955 Zealand Avenue North, stated that he and persons in h.is neighborhood support establishment of the surgical center at the proposed site for the following reasons: 1) The building has adequate parking, 2) the building has good access, and 3) the building has not had a good tenant for a long time. Chairman Thompson closed the informal public hearing. It was moved by Commissioner Singer and seconded by Commissioner Tubman to recom- mend 'City Council approval of the request from West Metro Surgical Center, Inc. to establish and operate a "same day" surgical center at 6681 Country Club1 '�riue subject to the three conditions suggested by staff with the first condition prohibiting expansion of the "building" rather than the "facility". Commissioner Leppik proposed an amendment to the motion prohibiting 'expansion of the building "beyond 30,000 square feet''. Commissioners Singer and Tubman accepted the amendment to the motion. Commissioner Polachek suggested that the Planning Commission provide the City Council with a reason for the recommended prohibition on future building expansion. Followir�g discussion, Chairman Thompson stated the reason as adverse impact of intensified use of the property on the adjacent residential neighborhood. Chairman Thompson reviewed the second and third conditions and suggested that the second condition be clarified to refer to parking information "on the proposed structure" and that the third condition be eliminated since there reportedly are no nonconforming uses in the building at this time. Commissioners Singer and Tubman accepted the amendments suggested by Chairman Thompsorr. Mr. Gandrud addressed the Commission and pointed out that the exact current building size is 21 ,96o square feet and that with the proposed addition of 10,000 square feet, it would be 31 ,960 square feet. An amendment of the first condition of the motion to prohibit building expansion beyond 31 ,96o square feet was accepted. 86 Planning Commission Minutes of May 10, 1982 Page 6 A vote was taken, and it was carried unanimously to recommend City Council approval of the request from West Metro Surgical Center, Inc. , to establish and operate a "same day" surgical center at 6681 Country Club Drive subject to the following conditions: 1 . That the proponents understand, and the City Council stipulate that the surgical center would not ask for, nor would they be permitted to expand this building beyond 31 ,96o square feet on this site at any time in the future. 2. That all parking information on the proposed structure be provided prior to City Council action on this matter. V. Report on City Council Meeting - May 4, 1982: Commissioner Tubman provided a report on the May 4, 1982 City Council meeting. The meeting was adjourned at 8:45 p.m. Respectfully submitted, '� � '; � � �� ��� David Thompson, Chairma Margare Leppik, S ' "etary